A light warm rain fell from the midnight sky as we dragged our backpacks full of beer and costumes into the fairgrounds. Far ahead we could hear the hard strum of a banjo to our right, but that tune was quickly overcome by a blaring trumpet to our left, followed by screams from a crowd unseen. As our eyes adjusted to the shadows of Redwood groves we could make out hundreds of tents camped around intricate LED lights, people milling around coolers and stoves, or lounging in camp chairs while singing and shotgunning Tecate.
High Sierra Music Festival is celebrated every 4th of July in Quincy, a small Eastern California gold rush town in the Plumas National Forest. It turned out that this 25-year-old celebration of music (in an alpine oasis) was a perfect place to celebrate my 10th festival since it turned out to be a hybrid of all my favorite events.
- The Burner-esque crowd was welcoming, costume-clad, and not shy about their eccentric rituals (such as Sunrise Kickball)
- Five stages continuously showcased phenomenal Hardly Strictly-style music ranging from bluegrass to funk to folk. Talk about a 24/7 groove-spectacular!
- The forested location harkened back to the fields of Bonnaroo where I first learned that communing with nature and enjoying live music could be one and the same
- The small size reminded me of the surprisingly manageable Treasure Island Music Festival where one could easily lap the venue 10 times to find a dazed and confused friend or catch the end of a show.
All in all High Sierra truly delivered – it was a uniquely beautiful, music-focused festival with a bunch of friendly NorCal neighbors. The strength of the community was palpable – legendary acts 
were constantly calling up local musicians to the stage for jam sessions. And that sense of camaraderie easily translated to the festival grounds, where it was easy to forget the woes of the world, sit back amongst the trees and just enjoy the F*** out of life.
Read below for a detailed musical highlight reel (Favorite show: Lake Street Dive; Favorite new band: Turkuaz)
Or peruse a playlist of my favorite shows here: High Sierra.
Thursday Night
The weekend began with a energizing 1am set by the funky and jazzy “Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe”. Karl Denson plays saxophone for The Rolling Stones and Slightly Stoopid, but his own band really knows how to stir up a crowd. Their booty smackin’ track “Shake it Out” helped me forget my 6 hour drive and start groovin’ as in a hurry! This was the best kickoff for what would proved to be an epic weekend.
Friday morning brought the stifling sierra sunshine that afforded us gorgeous views shrouded by the night before. Unfortunately sunshine also meant a stifling 98 degree, luckily the Feather River was right down the road. After a quick morning yoga session on the lawn 12 of us jumped into a van bound of the cool river waters. A few bumpy corkscrew (wrong) turns we made it down a dirt road and landed us on the shores of an amazing liquid oasis. From the beach ecstatic festival goers paddled into the river on banana-shaped rafts, jumped off a 20-foot rope swing, and basked in the sun like drunk lizards. This nature recharge was absolute euphoria and the perfect predecessor to my first full day of music.
First up was a set in the (beautifully shaded) Music Hall by local band The Brother’s Comatose. After listening to this band for a few years now and I continue to be impressed by this ensemble’s remarkable knowledge base of folk, rock, and traditional bluegrass styles. Despite their name this band is anything but sleep-inducing, rather their music riles up a crowd and inspires those dancing feet. Have a listen to their anthemic singalong “Church Street Blues” or a taste of their beautiful ballads with “Morning Time”.
On the main Grandstand stage was a newer favorite of mine, Shovels and Rope, an adorable indie folk married duo from Charleston, South Carolina. Their haunting harmonies and enticing musical spirit have won them two Americana Music Awards, and in the Spring they are expecting their first child together. During the set Cary Ann remarked about the sad violence that has recently occurred in their hometown. In a beautiful homage to the future they dedicated their last song “Birmingham” to a more loving and equal South for everyone.
After an afternoon of folky goodness the sun set and it was time to turn up the FUNK. Luckily, Turkuaz was just the nine-piece “powerfunk” band to make it happen. Hailing from Brooklyn NY their modern twist on the classic funk sound was captivating and revolutionary to my ears. The whole set all I could think was “Why the hell don’t I listen to more FUNK?!” (Fo’ REAL). . Listen to “Bubba Slide” for a taste of this groovin’ sound that combines world-pop-dance grooves, Beatles folk rhythms, and Motown.
The night ended with an brassy early morning (1-3:30am) set by The California Honeydrops. Drawing on diverse musical influences from Bay Area R&B, funk, Southern soul and Delta Blues, this band brings vibrant energy and infectious dance-party vibes to their live shows. I was particularly tickled pink by their song “Pumpkin Pie” which features a prominent character who is possessive of pumpkin pie (an obsession I can relate to). At the end of their swingin’ set they brought on stage 7 more musicians from the Element Brass Band to belt out some rockin’ covers along with their guitarist, dummer, washboard player, percussion, basist, and keyboardist. The sound was great but I was even more impressed the stage didn’t collapse!
Saturday
For the past six years this Portland-based string-infused quartet has racked up miles playing sold-out shows in their adopted hometown and garnering new fans across the country for their old-timey sound. Their latest release, Just One of Them Nights, showcases Fruition’s folk rock sound while the lyrics detail the countless struggles and successes that come along with a vagabond lifestyle. Listen to “Mountain Annie” to get a taste.
Possibly one of the most hilarious concerts I’ve ever attended, Steve Poltz is part musician and part stand-up comedian. The title track of his new album “Freebasing Celery” explains a lot about this jokester with extreme musical prowess. Steve Poltz is a talented and prolific songwriter, as well as a smart-mouth, highly entertaining storyteller who winds his audience into a tizzy of laughter. His work has toped the Billboard 100 and is an impressive collection of ballads, rockers, and melodic acoustic numbers. Check out his hilarious and heartfelt song “All My Friends” performed at Folk Alliance 2014:
LSD took the cake as my favorite show at High Sierra. Sultry sexy front woman Rachael Price was the most captivating songstress I’ve seen in a long while. Her dynamic vocals were supported by a bodacious band featuring a trumpet/guitar player, bassist, and drummer. The group met in 2004 at the New England Conservatory in Boston and have been breaking through people’s conceptions of folk and soulful rock ballads ever since. The band recently shot up to stardom when they received rave reviews from the The New Yorker and Rolling Stones for a show at NYC City Hall. Check out their hit “Bad Self Portrait” performed live set at Pickathon:
Chirs and Oliver Wood shared a childhood steeped in American roots music and in 2005 they started sharing their unique twist on Americana and blues together on stage. At High Sierra they owned the Grandstand stage and played a well received encore. Characterized by dialed-in vocal harmonies Oliver’s gritty acoustic guitar, Chris’s virtuosic upright bass, the duo has released six albums and earned praise from NPR and The New York Ttimes. Check out their best known tune, The Luckiest Man, below.
Sisters Leah Song and Chloe Smith tear into sound with a sensual prowess. At High Sierra they had the Big Meadow tent crowd enraptured with songs protesting the broken criminal justice system and racial tensions. Their beautiful banjo and fiddle duets pair wonderfully with poetic harmonies like only sisters can do. Their activist anthems are only one of many styles of music they play – including jazz and folk and New Orleans Soul. I have no doubt this women are on the fast track to stardom as their style redefines folk music as a truly living art. Enjoy their down home original “The Dirty South“:.
Sunday
The festival ended with a night of wandering around the festival grounds, meeting old timers who had dubbed their 15 year-old camp “Porch Time” and gladly served you a whiskey cocktail from their homemade bar (felled from a 130-year-old Sugar Pine). With daybreak brought the masses out for “Sunrise Kickball” a calamitous group of festival goers running baselines in Eeyore onesies, dancing to James Brown Remixes, and creating larger than life bubbles thanks to the Bubble Cart.
Before heading out we caught the last set of The Sam Chase a rough and tumble bluegrass rocker whose hoarse voice and aggressive guitar plucking adequately matched my all-nighter induced exhaustion. Based in San Francisco, Sam and his band (called The Untraditional) take to stages all over the country with a virulent and frenetic passion. In 2013 they were voted best band by SF Weekly! Their set ended with two extended and exuberant encore songs, including the aptly named “Glory“, which provided me with the last opportunity to boogie and shake for the weekend.
I left the Vaudeville tent happily exhausted, smiling wide with tinges of the previous night’s face paint and costumes strapped precariously to my backpack. Soon I was packed up and loading the car for a long ride home. Before leaving I took one last gaze at the surrounding Sierra foothills and felt a sudden surge of happiness and gratitude. The weekend had brought with it a new group of fantatsic friends, numerous new bands to listen to and love, but most all I felt a kinship with the Sierra mountains that I didn’t know had been missing. High Sierra officially had me hooked and 4th of July would never be the same.
Music On My Mind 